


DeLorean

by mariuspunmercy



Series: The Princess Universe [4]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, F/F, Fist Fights, Human Catra (She-Ra), POV Catra (She-Ra), Reminiscing, Time Skips, adora is a self sacrificing idiot just like steve rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspunmercy/pseuds/mariuspunmercy
Summary: Catra thinks of the past.When she comes back to the future, Adora is with her this time.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: The Princess Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1377166
Kudos: 28





	DeLorean

**Author's Note:**

> Series Playlist  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hXQDpWPsBP8yhHUvUAojs?si=BmaJ1TMKQVy4VYhOwdZqDQ

"Catra!" Adora cried as she ran into her best friend's apartment. 

Catra, a whole thirteen years old, came out of her room at the sound of Adora calling her name. "Yeah? Let's make this quick. Tom and Jerry is on right now and I think this is the…"

She trailed off when she saw the way Adora looked. The blonde girl was clutching a bloody arm with her shirt torn in the middle. "What in the world happened to you?"

Adora looked down as she made her way deeper into the apartment. Catra met her halfway, grabbing her by the good wrist and dragging her to the bathroom sink. She washed her friend's arm in the cool water, then turned to her, saying, "Explain.  _ Now." _

"It's kind of a funny story."

"I'm not laughing." Catra gave Adora her best blank face. She needed to clean everything up before her parents came home. If Adora came here before going home, then she can only assume that no one else is supposed to find out. 

She stepped out of the bathroom and ran to her room, digging through her closet for something. Even though it definitely isn't going to fit her tiny friend,  _ anything  _ is good and opposed to Adora's pink bloody shirt. 

Catra threw the brown button up shirt to Adora, who barley caught it with her good arm. "I asked for an explanation for why you showed up to my house in bloody clothes."

Sometimes, the girl had a habit of getting nose bleeds whenever she had an allergic reaction to something, usually peanuts. But something tells her that peanut allergies aren't supposed to make someone bleed from their arm. 

Adora stiffened as Catra grabbed a tan wrap that her parents just bought. It had come along with some of the food stamps, and now she can't be more grateful that she has them. 

"Adam got into an argument with some boys about enlisting, and the boys said he'd be better off getting drafted…" Adora ducked her head as she examined her newly bandaged arm. "Adam stormed off, but I came out of my hiding place to confront them-"

"Adora!" Catra yelled. "We've literally talked about this! You know you can't be getting into fights with people. Especially now! You're thirteen and not even five foot yet! If he knew Adam, he was at least three years older. Come on! Why'd you do it?"

"I… don't know.." Adora admitted, peeling off her pink shirt and slipping Catra's brown shirt over her head. It was obvious it was big, but she didn't bother tucking it into her white skirt. "What am I supposed to do? Stand around and do nothing?"

_ "Yes!" _

"No, you know I can't do that. Adam is my mom's only son, and I don't want something to happen that'll change that."

"And you're my only friend," Catra pointed out. "I'd lose my mind if something happened to you because you wanted to play the hero. I know it's your thing, but we don't have to be in the history books."

"I know…" Adora sighed. "I just hate having to watch people like my neighbor's brother and older sister and whatnot leave to fight a war they never really wanted to fight. Yet there's… Never mind."

Catra quirked an eyebrow as she turned off the sink and sat on the counter. Adora sat criss cross applesauce on the floor, staring up at the other girl. "I want to help. I want to fight. I know I never will though. I'm a four foot eleven girl in a war where only the big guns win. I'm never going to be that."

They had each other. Catra doesn't know how to make friends. Even the thought of her small friend getting into any more fights terrified her. If she lost Adora, she'd have no one left. She doesn't know if she'd be able to find herself if anything were to happen. 

"We don't have to be Etherian heroes to leave a mark, you know," Catra laughed at Adora's bewildered expression. "I'm serious! For example, if you had died today while picking a fight with people you know you aren't supposed to, then I would've cried for at least a year. Your parents  _ and  _ mine would mourn you for a really long time. Adam would be  _ devastated.  _ You see what I mean?"

Adora chuckled. "Yeah, I see what you're getting at. I'm really sorry, Catra. I really didn't want to scare you. I came here because if Adam saw what those boys did, he'd probably send them all the way to Beast Island. I'll be more careful, I promise. But this means you're not allowed to get hurt  _ or  _ drafted, okay?"

Catra rolled her eyes. "At least I'm over five foot." 

The silence that fell over them never had an uncomfortable vibe when it came to the two of them, but something had changed in the atmosphere. 

She knew she couldn't promise she couldn't get drafted. It was impossible to know for sure. If Adora can't even enlist, they know the draft wouldn't take her, even if she did get picked.

If Catra was a son, she would be safe. They wouldn't send the only boy in the family. At least not for a while. But she's the daughter, and because she wouldn't be continuing the family name, it's totally possible for her to be forced to fight in the war. 

Adora must've came to this realization as she started biting her nails. Catra knocked her with her foot, bringing her attention back. "Hey, I might not be able to promise you anything, but nothing can happen for at least another three years."

She nodded. "Catra, I…"

"I know. My mom panicked all the same-"

"Can I stay the night?"

Catra was taken aback by the sudden topic change. She stared down at Adora, trying to see if the girl was actually being serious. "Uh.. What? Just a few seconds ago you were about to start a full scale manhunt for the people in charge of drafting. Now you wanna stay over?"

Adora nodded. "Well, I bruise easy and everyone at my house is gonna flip out. Plus, we got kinda deep on our talk today and I wanted to feel better. You know… For our sake.."

Catra smiled. "Of course."

*

Catra stared at her metal arm, shaking herself from her reminiscing session. 

"Thank god it was me, not you," Catra said out loud to nobody. 

She remembers Adora's innocent smile from way back when. Everytime her mind goes back to the past, she doesn't think about the war. She only thinks about the Adora she loved before She-Ra. They might've said they wouldn't cling onto the past anymore, but she couldn't completely erase it. 

But whenever she travels back to the future, she comes back to see a slightly taller Adora. The same idiot who did things for everyone but herself. Yet different, because she isn't getting beat up in back alleys anymore and is able to defend herself now. 

Thank god it was Catra who fell off the train that day. Thank god it was her who was captured and dismantled to become the Horde Soldier, and not Adora. She'd never have the strength to see her best friend in the same situations she's been in. 

She got up from the couch she was sitting on, all mangly and weird. They've got a pretty good record going, though. Six months and they've only had to change locations twice. Bless Lonnie for updating them whenever someone got a lead on them. 

Adora's laughter rang in her ears from down the hall. Catra followed the sound, walking into their bedroom. She found the girl on the bed, feet curled up to her and clutching a book close to her face. 

"Harry Potter?" Catra questioned, reading the cover. "Whose Harry Potter and why is he included in…" She paused to read again, squinting, "..the order of some kind of phoenix?"

Adora rolled her eyes and slipped a bookmark onto her page, setting the book next to her. "What do you want? I was getting to the good part."

"I'm doing it again.." Catra scratched the back of her neck, settling into bed next to Adora. "The thing where my mind travels back to the past and then I start thinking negatively."

"Lonnie said we only needed a year from the last session…"

It had become a cycle of some sort. She was never meant to be on her own. She had always been planned to be controlled by somebody. Being independent for too long without going on cryogenic freezing causes her brain to try to go back to the Horde Soldier on its own. 

That's always how they know she needs to go back. Whenever she starts waking up in the middle of the night, screaming because of a nightmare or she nudges herself into Adora's side because of negative thoughts, she knows she's gotta go back under. 

The month she spent alone after Hydra fell was the worse. She had no one, and her mind was literally tearing itself apart to try and remember anything she could. She went to the She-Ra museum on a daily because everytime she did she would get a tiny glimpse of her life. 

"Hey, no, you're okay. You're fine. I'm going to touch you, okay?" Adora grabbed the bottom of her chin gently with her fingers; a ghost of a touch. "It's okay if you're having these thoughts again. We knew this was going to happen."

Catra's fist tightened, and she launched it into her thigh before she sent it flying somewhere else. Adora grabbed her wrist, holding it with only loving hands. "I just want to be fucking normal."

She knows the cryogenic freezing does this to her, but she wouldn't even need the freezing if her unit hadn't gotten captured by Hordak. She wouldn't have survived that train fall if it wasn't for the experiments on her. She should've been able to live a life out during the forties with Adora. 

Her 'death' is what sent Adora into a spiral of her own. She heard from Entrapta (whose in the next room over) that She-Ra got sloppy after her 'best friend's' death. Instead of trying to save herself on the plane, she stayed on and allowed herself to sleep in the ice for the next seventy years. 

In those seventy years, Catra had become nothing but a toy soldier. 

"Normal isn't always a good thing," Adora ran her fingers over her knuckles. "Your life gets hard every month and I have to sit here. I can't do anything about it besides watch and try my best to help." 

Catra stared at her blankly. "You're kidding, right?"

When she didn't get a response, she continued, "You've done nothing but help me every time I get like this! I probably would've punched a hole in every damn wall in this place if it wasn't for you. I'm lucky I can actually communicate with you and I'm able to get the help I need from you."

Adora chuckled in disbelief. "It's crazy. We've been around since the forties, but I don't think anything can compare to this."

"Nothing Hydra did to me hurts as bad as this."

Adora grabbed a strand of Catra's hair and pushed it behind her ear. "Even at our worst, I never saw a killer or a soldier in you. I only ever saw a friend who was damaged and needed someone again."

When Catra lifted an eyebrow, she continued. "You literally shot a bullet into my stomach in November, yet all I could see was the girl who cleaned me up after fights. You pulled me out of more losing battles than I could count. The one who refused to leave me alone after my mom died. You were always the big spoon and now we switch. Now we can be open about who we are without being scared of being punished for it. It's you and me against the world."

Catra smiled with tears in her eyes, and Adora wiped them away with her thumb. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me."

She sniffled, then said, "So we'll call Lonnie to try and squeeze us in tomorrow?"

Adora shrugged. "It's your decision. You're in control of your choices now."

Usually, the glimpses of the past and everything that comes with it is usually less of a blessing and more of a curse. They always end with heartbreaking conversations and too many tears that have been shed. 

But as Catra leapt on Adora to kiss her, she's just grateful she has someone to pull her back to the future. 

**Author's Note:**

> IN BETWEEN THE TIME OF MERCY and this I've had 2 research papers. One about how to make a successful protest and another about Hollywood corruption. 
> 
> I've died. 
> 
> I hope the title makes sense. Like this makes sense to me but idk I'm a little out of it after my second paper wHICH THIS CHAPTER IS LONGER THAN
> 
> But I have more ideas for Catra and Adora here, and I've figured out a potential infinity war plotline 👀
> 
> (At the very least it's gonna be a drabble lmao) 
> 
> But if you're still here after reading the whole series then hello I love you and I hope you have a wonderful day.


End file.
